1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image test apparatus and an image test system.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, an inspection apparatus for inspecting printed materials generates a master image as a reference image from print data, compares a read image of a printed material as a test object with the master image while aligning the positions of the images, and determines a defect of the printed material based on the degree of a difference. Therefore, when any defect occurs in an image through image formation and image output, it is possible to detect the defect.
As a method to notify a user of a defective printed material in which a defect is detected by the inspection apparatus, there is a known method to discharge the defective printed material on a different discharge tray from that of a normal printed material or to mark the defective printed material with a tape (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2005-205797). Furthermore, there is another method to mark a discharge tray with a scale and to display, on an operation panel of an image forming apparatus or the like, the position of a printed material that needs to be taken out by a user among printed materials stacked on the discharge tray with reference to the scale (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2012-93601).
However, when the defective printed material is discharged on the different discharge tray in the technology disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2005-205797, and if a user checks the defective printed material and confirms that it is a normal printed material, then the user needs to return the defective printed material to a correct page position in the printed materials stacked on the discharge tray on which a normal printed material is discharged, which is cumbersome for the user. Furthermore, when the defective printed material is marked with a tape, a special marking unit is needed, which leads to an increase in costs, and a printed sheet may physically be damaged due to marking. Moreover, even in the technology disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2012-93601, a user needs to check the printed materials while comparing the scale of the discharge tray displayed on the operation panel with the scale marked on the discharge tray; therefore, the check operation may become cumbersome.
Therefore, there is a need for an image test apparatus capable of indicating the position of a defective printed material in a simpler and easier manner than in a conventional technology.